struggle
    n 1: an energetic attempt to achieve something; "getting through
         the crowd was a real struggle"; "he fought a battle for
         recognition" [syn: struggle, battle]
    2: an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals);
       "the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph"--
       Thomas Paine; "police tried to control the battle between the
       pro- and anti-abortion mobs" [syn: conflict, struggle,
       battle]
    3: strenuous effort; "the struggle to get through the crowd
       exhausted her"
    v 1: make a strenuous or labored effort; "She struggled for
         years to survive without welfare"; "He fought for breath"
         [syn: fight, struggle]
    2: to exert strenuous effort against opposition; "he struggled
       to get free from the rope"
    3: climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling [syn: clamber,
       scramble, shin, shinny, skin, struggle, sputter]
    4: be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight; "the tribesmen
       fought each other"; "Siblings are always fighting"; "Militant
       groups are contending for control of the country" [syn:
       contend, fight, struggle]

Struggle \Strug"gle\, n.
   1. A violent effort or efforts with contortions of the body;
      agony; distress.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Great labor; forcible effort to obtain an object, or to
      avert an evil. --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Contest; contention; strife.
      [1913 Webster]

            An honest might look upon the struggle with
            indifference.                         --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Endeavor; effort; contest; labor; difficulty.
        [1913 Webster]

Struggle \Strug"gle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Struggled; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Struggling.] [OE. strogelen; cf. Icel. strj?ka to
   stroke, to beat, to flog, Sw. stryka to stroke, to strike,
   Dan. stryge, G. straucheln to stumble. Cf. Stroll.]
   1. To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with
      contortions of the body.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To use great efforts; to labor hard; to strive; to contend
      forcibly; as, to struggle to save one's life; to struggle
      with the waves; to struggle with adversity.
      [1913 Webster]

            The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here,
            have consecrated it [Gettysburg] far above our power
            to add or detract.                    --Lincoln.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To labor in pain or anguish; to be in agony; to labor in
      any kind of difficulty or distress.
      [1913 Webster]

            'T is wisdom to beware,
            And better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.
                                                  --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To strive; contend; labor; endeavor.
        [1913 Webster]